GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS

6. GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of identifiable net assets acquired in a business combination. The Company’s reporting units are its operating segments.

The Company tests goodwill for impairment on an annual basis during the second quarter. If circumstances change significantly, the Company would also test a reporting unit’s goodwill for impairment during interim periods between its annual tests. Based on the current and expected performance of the Company’s reporting units, updating the impairment testing during the first quarter of 2018 was not deemed necessary. There has been no impairment of goodwill in any of the years presented.

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for each of the Company's reportable segments during the three months ended March 31, 2018 were as follows:


	Global		Global		Global
(millions)	Industrial		Institutional		Energy		Other		Total
December 31, 2017		$2,797.0		$1,027.0		$3,203.7		$139.4		$7,167.1
Segment change (a)		(71.7)		-		-		71.7		-
December 31, 2017 revised		$2,725.3		$1,027.0		$3,203.7		$211.1		$7,167.1
Current year business combinations (b)		20.7		11.8		-		-		32.5
Prior year business combinations (c)		-		-		-		0.1		0.1
Dispositions		-		-		(2.5)		-		(2.5)
Effect of foreign currency translation		40.3		15.3		47.1		3.1		105.8
March 31, 2018		$2,786.3		$1,054.1		$3,248.3		$214.3		$7,303.0

(a)

Relates to establishment of the Colloidal Technologies Group (“CTG”) operating segment, which is also a reporting unit. Goodwill was allocated to CTG based on a fair value allocation. The CTG operating segment is included in the Other segment. CTG was previously reported in the Water reporting unit, which is aggregated and reported in the Global Industrial reportable segment. See Note 15 for further information.

(b)

Represents goodwill associated with current year acquisitions. The Company does not expect any of the goodwill related to businesses acquired to be tax deductible.

(c)

Represents purchase price allocation adjustments for 2017 acquisitions deemed preliminary as of December 31, 2017.

Other Intangible Assets

The Nalco trade name is the Company’s principal indefinite life intangible asset, which is tested for impairment on an annual basis during the second quarter. Based on the ongoing performance of the Company’s reporting units associated with the trade name, updating the impairment testing during the first quarter of 2018 was not deemed necessary. There has been no impairment of the Nalco trade name intangible since it was acquired.

The Company’s intangible assets subject to amortization primarily include customer relationships, trademarks, patents and other technology. The fair value of identifiable intangible assets is estimated based upon discounted future cash flow projections and other acceptable valuation methods. Other intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated economic lives. Total amortization expense related to other intangible assets during the first quarter of 2018 and 2017 was $80.2 million and $73.8 million, respectively. Estimated amortization for the remaining nine month period of 2018 related to other amortizable intangible assets is expected to be approximately $242 million.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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